Real Housewives Of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice is going to jail. She pled guilty to an army of fraud and fraud-related charges today as part of an agreement with prosecutors that will send her to the slammer for between 21 and 27 months, depending on how the judge is feeling when she’s formally sentenced on July 8. That time away from society will keep her away from her children, but it apparently won't stop her from finishing her work on Season 6 of her hit reality show.
According to TMZ, the Giudice’s and their castmates have already started shooting Season 6. Producers are reportedly planning to move as quickly as possible to get everything done and wrapped. The regular episodes aren’t expected to be a problem, but the always over-the-top reality show, which is filmed much later could ultimately be Giudice-less. Regardless of whether they’re there or not, however, the conversation will definitely feature plenty of talk about their legal situation. (Fun fact: that sentence contained there, their and they’re)
While others might run from their rather embarrassing plight, Teresa and her husband Joe, who is facing 37 to 46 months accoriding to People, have reportedly okayed producers to make it a major storyline for the season. As such, the Housewives franchise will probably get as real as it’s gotten since Russell Armstrong tragically killed himself, as viewers are walked through the family’s devastating legal issues.
The goal of all the honesty, however, might not be transparency in and of itself. Thanks to all of the fraud charges, Joe reportedly hasn’t exactly been able to pound the pavement and make a ton of money on his own lately. That’s left the family with various reality shows like Housewives and Celebrity Apprentice to help pay the bills. They’re very luctative compared to say working at Macy’s, but they’re not exactly the type of activities that generate millions of dollars a year.
The charges the Giudice’s pled guilty to are very complicated and run the gamut from wire fraud to hiding assets during bankruptcy. They involve shell corporations, illegal mortgages and a whole host of other bizarre schemes, all of which the government did not look too kindly on. After the couple’s arrest, most people assumed Teresa would cop a deal with the government and testify against her husband in exchange for avoiding jailtime, but in the end, they decided to stand together. That’ll help their marriage, but whether or not it’ll help their family is still up in the air.
